Report: U.S. CENTCOM Sugarcoated Assessments of Fight Against Islamic State

[Valin]

The Weekly Standard:

Jenna Lifhits

Aug 11, 2016

 

Leaders of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) manipulated intelligence to make efforts against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq look more successful than they were in reality, according to a new report by a House Republican joint task force created to investigate the matter.

 

The group's findings corroborate reports that the environment at CENTCOM was "toxic," as senior officials there pressured analysts and whitewashed intelligence reports.

 

Starting in mid-2014, CENTCOM disseminated intelligence that was "more optimistic than actual events warranted" and "consistently more optimistic" than that of other intelligence agencies and its own senior analysts, the group's review said.

 

As the fight against ISIS intensified, senior leadership "increased their involvement in the review and editing of … intelligence assessments."

 

(Snip)

 

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More At Commentary

[Valin]

Politicized Intelligence: Telling the Boss What He Wants to Hear
Under Obama, intelligence gathering has been scandalously corrupted.
Jed Babbin
Aug. 15 2016

The August 10 report of a joint task force of the House Armed Services Committee and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence shows that a serious corruption of intelligence by U.S. Central Command (“CENTCOM”) senior officers has been used to feed President Obama’s narrative that the fight against the Islamic State has been going well since 2014.

The report says, in part:

Based on its own investigation, the Joint Task Force has substantiated that structural and management changes made at the CENTCOM Intelligence Directorate starting in mid-2014 resulted in the production and dissemination of intelligence products that were inconsistent with the judgments of many senior, career analysts at CENTCOM. These products were consistently more optimistic regarding the conduct of U.S. military action than that of the senior analysts. Based on specific case studies evaluated by the Joint Task Force, during the time period evaluated by the Joint Task Force, CENTCOM produced intelligence that was also significantly more optimistic than that of other parts of the Intelligence Community (IC) and typically more optimistic than actual events warranted. Additionally, many CENTCOM press releases, public statements, and congressional testimonies were also significantly more positive than actual events.

 

 

(Snip)

 

We don’t know the origin of the “management changes” that were imposed on the CENTCOM intelligence operation in 2014, but the fact that the most senior generals and civilians at CENTCOM — as well as the Defense Intelligence Agency, the DNI, and the Undersecretary for Intelligence — knew about the problem and did nothing to fix it is evidence that they were either directed by their bosses to leave the disease uncured or they were afraid to fix the problem because their bosses didn’t want it to be fixed.

 

Their bosses are few: Defense Secretary Carter, National Security Advisor Susan Rice and President Obama.

 

Whoever the source of the direction or fear was they have done the nation great harm. Policymaking on the basis of false information — for that is what was done — makes our nation and our allies far less secure and paints a false picture for the public.

 

(Snip)